Although I make my own fresh pasta mounds for a total cost of about a buck, in January I’ll be the first in line to buy Ethan Stowell’s fresh noodles, from his new company Lagana Foods, created with his food associate Kaela Farrington. My flat noodles are easy to do with my old hand-cranked pasta machine, but shaped, extruded noodles are another beast entirely. I don’t have an extruder or the the pasta dies and I don’t have the know-how.

The Forest Service is leading a series of snowshoe walks at Snoqualmie Pass this winter. Participants will drink in all of nature's "off-season" beauty while learning about snowshoeing and winter ecology. Group size is limited to the first 20 who sign up; advance reservations required (call 509.852.1062). Ninety minute walks leave every Saturday and Sunday from January 3 through March 29 at 10 a.m. and at 1 p.m from the Visitor Information Center.

We’re counting down the Christmas shopping days with an editors’ gift guide. Check back daily to find out our must-have items this holidayFrom hops to Hoosier pie, these new books by local authors celebrate the intersection of food, drink and family in heartwarming and sometimes unexpected ways. Cameron Psiaki

There are no unitaskers allowed and prices range from low to more-than-reasonable for ingenious restaurant-quality kitchen equipment. Tom Douglas wants everyone to get in the kitchen and cook, and to have a much easier time doing it. He has spent the last 1 ½ years at home and in his restaurant kitchens testing and improving an entire line of housewares with his signature on it, and sold by Amazon.com as their brand line.

Hi, readers! If you're one of the few people that noticed (besides you, mom), I apologize for being MIA for the last two weeks. It turns out a full-time job can really cut into one's blogging time. I was still working out though - I don't think coming down with the plague could get me out of 8 sessions in a row.

We’re counting down the Christmas shopping days with an editors’ gift guide. Check back daily to find out our must-have items this holiday season.
Looking for some new tunes? Pick up Caffe Vita GIVE, a $7, 30-track compilation CD featuring Northwest darlings the Fleet Foxes, Common Market, Cave Singers, and Sera Cahoone, among others. Proceeds from the sales benefit local food banks and Arts Corps, Seattle’s largest nonprofit arts educator.